Gloucester County authorities, current students still push to find Rowan student's killers four years later

GLASSBORO — By now, he might have slipped a diamond onto a tender, trembling finger, maybe launched a career.

Perhaps he’d still be hustling across Route 322 between classes, a graduate student running on three hours of shut-eye and Java.

But nothing will play out on earth for Donald “Donnie” Farrell III, the Rowan University sophomore killed four years ago in a Homecoming weekend attack and robbery.

The earthy, ever-smiling 19-year-old from Boonton, Morris County was walking to a party with some friends on the night of Oct. 27, 2007.

He was reportedly stopped by a group of several black males, perhaps five, in the area of the Triad apartments, a student residence hall, and they asked him for directions. His friends walked ahead to a nearby convenience store, and before they could react, the attackers had struck.

Several quick blows to the head, and at least a kick to the abdomen, dropped him, and Farrell suffered a torn artery in his neck. He died hours later at Cooper University Hospital in Camden.

The loot for the attackers? Farrell’s wallet and cell phone.

Authorities got tips, took statements, followed leads. They had video surveillance from a nearby store showing an as-of-yet unidentified person of interest in the case.

The video shows a male described as black or Hispanic, with a light complexion. He wore a rare and distinctive, red and gray Coogie Heritage hoody, a New York Yankees cap, braided hair, a thin mustache and light goatee.

He stood about 5 feet, 7 inches tall and was about 20 to 24 years old. The video was posted on youtube.com and myspacetv.com; the description is still posted on the Gloucester County Prosecutor’s Office website.

A $100,000 reward is offered for information leading to the arrest and conviction of the person or persons who ended up taking Farrell’s life.

The story appeared on America’s Most Wanted.

But as of this weekend, no arrests have been made.

Still, those authorities haven’t forgotten, and they haven’t given up, said Lt. Langdon Sills of the Gloucester County Prosecutor’s Office, still the lead investigator on the case.

A trail revisited

As Thursday marks four years since the crime occurred, Donnie Farrell’s family and friends, the investigators on the case, and even a new class of Rowan Profs are trying to refresh efforts to find the assailants.

“We’re hoping with the anniversary (of the killing), we’ll be able to generate some more leads,” Sills explained.

Authorities at times review a cold case and even re-interview witnesses to refresh the investigation.

“Prosecutor Dalton is very passionate about cold case homicides,” he stressed. “He wants to solve these things. There’s just no more important case to work than that dealing with the taking of a life.”

Sills said the information with which authorities have worked hasn’t really changed. But any number of events can give them the break they need.

It’s common knowledge in law enforcement that somewhere along the line, a sought-after offender can get caught in an unrelated case. When nailed by police, they may make a deal and tell what they know to lighten the punishment.

Sills said nothing has led investigators to believe Farrell was targeted for anything other than a random, opportunisitic attack.

He also holds out hope that a recent student project at Rowan can spark something.

Students in an investigative journalism class taught by freelance writer Amy Quinn have been writing their own stories on the killing. And while the main idea is to give students an exercise in covering a compelling cold case, there’s always the chance it will stir chatter and even resurrect a case.

An A-Team of sorts, composed of profilers and law enforcement pros, has also chipped in.

John Kelly runs S.T.A.L.K. Inc., a group focused on helping authorities get leads in cases involving serial killers and other violent offenders. S.T.A.L.K. stands for “System to Apprehend Lethal Killers.”

The group of five based in New Jersey takes tips and posts information on cases on its website, www.stalkinc.com.

“There’s nothing new on our end,” Kelly said of the Farrell case. “It’s really a sad situation, and my heart goes out to the family.

“I just think this is a situation in which we have some people really keeping the street code of ‘don’t snitch.’

In any case like that of Donnie Farrell’s death, loved ones and peers of the victim are always left shaken. For the parents, there comes a trauma unimaginable to anyone who hasn’t experienced the same.

But the effects can spread even further.

“A single homicide can tear at the fibers of an entire community,” said Rowan Law and Justice Associate Professor Stanley B. Yeldell.

“The (killing) can bring ordinary persons into contact with various criminal justice professionals: medical examiner, prosecutor, the judiciary and even the media.

“If the suspect is not apprehended and brought to justice,” Yeldell said, “then the clouds of suspicion can be lasting, and the (victim’s) immediate family and friends may even feel the danger has not yet been extinguished.

“Worst of all, the psychological wounds inflicted on the survivors will be very deep and as serious as if they (family and friends) were the killer’s victims.

“Moreover,” he continued, “the death of a significant other, particularly through homicide, is a sudden, emotionally shattering event that can rapidly propel survivors deep into a crisis state.”

Yeldell added that the sudden death of a loved one leaves no chance for survivors to brace for the tragedy.

“For example,” he said, “you can make preparations for a loved one with a terminal illness.”

Not so when one’s very son is taken overnight.

Nonetheless, both Farrell’s home town and the Rowan campus are forging ahead.

The plan also included installing more emergency phones, hiring more campus police officers, upgrading the text message alert system and putting in security cameras.

And each year now, in Farrell’s home town, residents hold the Donnie Farrell III Memorial Food Drive.

It’s just one of the latest signs of the ongoing devotion to a young man whose life was short, but only here. And while all involved refuse to forget him, they hold onto the hope of finding those who just may never be allowed to forget him.